Thiruvananthapuram: India’s members of parliament are handsomely paid and well looked after in terms of comfortable accommodation, perks, travel allowances and other benefits. So, does an MP require to get a car through contributions from party colleagues who worked for her victory?

Youth Congress workers in Alathur constituency certainly thought so, and launched a fund raising campaign to buy a car for their MP, Ramya Haridas. But the move has created a flutter in Congress circles with some senior Congressmen opposing the move, and the matter being widely discussed on social media.

Opposing camps have asked what is wrong in an MP’s party colleagues and well-wishers raising funds to gift her a car, as well as why an MP needs others’ money to buy a car when she has generous travel allowances and easy access to bank loans.

Haridas is a recent entrant into politics and is one of the select few in Kerala who came through a talent hunt exercise organised by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. She also received personal mentorship from Rahul Gandhi.

After the move to gift her a car through crowd funding led to controversy, Haridas said she had decided not to accept the car that was to be gifted to her.

The strongest critic of the car-gifting idea was Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President Mullappally Ramachandran. The KPCC president questioned the logic of the move to gift her a car, pointing out that MPs got loans to buy cars, and that he would not have accepted such a gift if he was in her place.

But the controversy has not died down, and has been further inflamed by a social media post on Tuesday by Congressmen including Anil Akkara MLA, and Youth Congress state secretary Sunil Lalur.

Akkara took a dig at the KPCC president, commenting on social media, “The Thrissur district Congress committee does not have a president. Don’t we also need a president? That responsibility belongs to the KPCC president”.

Taking a cue from Akkara’s post, Sunil Lalur commented sarcastically, “We need a DCC president. We, Youth Congress workers, cannot crowd fund and appoint a president. Nor can other district officials take a loan and appoint a president”, in a veiled criticism of the KPCC president.